. >> translator: in the new environment, our party faces many tough challenges. there are numerous pressing problems within the party and senior ranks that need to be resolved, especially corruption and the acceptance of bribes. >> reporter: xi jinping is taking over the position of general secretary from hu jintao. he will lead the political bureau standing committee, china's main decision-making body. the number of seats on the committee has been reduced to seven from nine. analysts say the party made the change to speed up the decision-making process. xi jinping and another top official, li keqiang, have been on the standing committee since 2007. the rest of the members are new. xi introduced them all during his speech. [ applause ] >> li keqiang. comrade zhang dejiang. comrade liu yunshan. comra comrade yu zhengsheng. and comrade zhang gaoli. >> reporter: the majority of officials on the standing committee are allies of former president jiang zemin, who retired from politics nearly a decade ago. they face a number of challenges. one is revving up china's slow